A FAMILIAR PLACE PostWar ZUTARA OneShot
by AVidZktjo
Summary: This is a short one-shot about the possibility of Zuko and Katara returning to the North Pole two years after the war has ended. While they are there in this familiar place, Katara presents to Zuko the prospect of healing his scar. Will he accept?


_**PLEASE READ - **__In case you're wondering why the dialogue is a bit out of character, let me clarify something. I KNOW it's out of character and lovey-dovey. It's supposed to be like that. In a way, I wanted it to come off like a Pride & Prejudice scene. So that's why the dialogue is kind of old-fashioned. Just to clarify. =D  
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_**ZUTARA (Zuko + Katara) from Avatar The Last Airbender TV Series**

_**A Familiar Place (Post-War)**_

_Written by Katie Jo aka AVidZktjo_

The door closed behind them and they gazed upon a familiar place. The sound of rushing water reached their ears as they breathed in the warm, peaceful aromas of the ice enclosed fortress. The young man walked forward, enjoying the coolness of the grass as it caressed his sandaled feet, and the young woman followed beside him, equally partaking of the pleasures this tranquil oasis could bring.

As they neared the small pond where the two Koi fish Tui and La resided, the young man looked to the left of him and noticed a huge wall of rugged ice that shot up from the edges of the grass and reached to the back wall. Surprisingly, it had not melted. The young woman noticed this as well and a smile lit up on her face as the man spoke. "I remember this ice and the encounter I had with the woman who encased me in it. Neither it nor she was friendly."

The woman stepped up beside him and looked at the prison of ice that had once held a very powerful bender, a bender she had eventually come to call her dearest friend. "Yes, I remember that encounter as well. What a pity the ice didn't hold him for I would have surely won the battle."

The man glanced at her and laughed aloud, a beautiful smile crossing his lips. "I doubt that a woman with her limited skills could have held him even if the moon had remained full the whole day long."

No sooner were those words out of his mouth than his whole body was enclosed in a mass of freezing ice. But the man knew this was coming and had already let his temperature rise to its boiling point so that the water and ice would have no effect on him. Just as soon as he was surrounded by the chilled water, he let his fists blaze with a fire as bright as his robes and he effortlessly burst forth from the prison she had created. But she knew his moves well, and she was ready to guard against his attack. Every punch he threw she defended against swiftly and decisively, never once losing sight of his golden eyes or his daunting smile. And though he knew her mind had kept track of all of his tactful swings, there was one step she could not block. It was that of his mouth that captured hers.

The surprising attack never ceased to throw her off guard, and the man always had to bear the flow of water that came tumbling down upon his head as she moved her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. But this he did not mind for her lips were all that entranced him, and for those few sweet moments, only the two of them existed. The sun and the moon, aligned together as one.

As soon as the woman pulled away from the man's knee-weakening kiss, she heard him say, "Ambassador, you may know my every move, but it is that of my heart that you will never be able to predict."

The woman gazed into the fiery, golden eyes of her captor as she replied, "On the contrary, your Highness, I know your heart well."

The man's only reply was to wrap her in his arms again, twirl her about, and kiss her passionately on the mouth. Likewise, the woman latched her arms around his neck, loving him equally in return. And once they drew apart to look into the eyes of the one they loved, the man spoke. "Yes, only you could understand a heart like mine, and I thank the spirits everyday for this joy they have bestowed on me."

"Oh, my dear, sweet Zuko, it was not the spirits that gave you this joy, but you yourself who gave it to you. It was you who won my trust back, you who earned my forgiveness, and you who captured the love in my heart and ignited a fire that I never knew I had." Her lips caught his for a brief moment and he melted into her loving embrace. "And it is you, my love, who will always have my heart," she whispered as she gently moved her hand over the left side of his face, feeling the scar that had once made her heart fear but now only brought her happiness in knowing whose face it belonged to.

"Katara…" he softly said her name, each syllable tasting like honey on his lips. "My dear, how could you love a man like me with a face as ugly as the blackness of the sea?"

Katara continued to caress the Fire Lord's face as she answered, "Because this man's face is not ugly or deformed but beautiful in the sight of its beholder. And what I see is a man who has brought joy to his people, peace to his adversaries, and love to the world. There is no trace of his father in him or of the war's hatred that encompassed the earth. Only kindness can be found in this gentle Lord's gaze, and only words of compassion are uttered from his lips." Katara placed both her hands upon his face and looked up at him with a smile that was only meant for his eyes to see. "And it is this man that I love, this man who won my heart, this man who I will always belong to."

Fire Lord Zuko closed his eyes and let the warmth of this woman's touch soothe within him the pain and anguish from his past mistakes. The sweep of her fingers upon his scarred and maimed face never ceased to amaze him and lift his heart high. Never had he felt such compassion or such peace in his life then when he was with this woman, a woman he had sworn never to love. But somehow, their hearts had run away with them and the unexpected happened. She forgave, she trusted, and then she loved. And he found his heart was quick in returning those affections to her. It was something that had been buried deep inside of them, almost like it had been written into the history of their nations, lost except for them to find. And miraculously, they had found it, and their love was made strong, true, and real, and through whatever circumstances, it found a way back to their hearts.

Zuko's eyes slowly opened to look upon the waterbender once more, and there she was with the same sweet smile upon her lips, beholding him as the beautiful prince he was never able to see himself as. "Zuko…" she said as she let her hands drop down to lay upon his chest.

"Yes, my dear?"

Katara stepped away from the Fire Lord and moved towards the pond where the Koi fish swum contentedly around each other. "Do you know where we are?"

Zuko's smile disappeared and his expression changed to one of confusion. "Why, yes, my love, of course I know where we are. We are at the North Pole, here to settle negotiations between the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes. Why is this of significance to this short time we share together?"

The Water Ambassador for the Fire Nation knelt down beside the pond, paying no mind to the hems of her exquisitely woven robes emblazoned with the colors of the sun and of the moon. She delicately dipped her hand into the warm water of the spirit oasis as Zuko looked on in wonder. Suddenly her hand began to glow as she lifted it from the water, coming to stand before the man with the unforgettable scar. "Zuko," she uttered quietly, "this is water from the spirit oasis, the same water with which I could have healed you before. Its powers remain the same as they were those years ago. I can heal you, Zuko. I can relieve you of this torment forever if you so wish it."

Zuko's eyes grew wide as he recalled the same offer she had given to him years ago. His answer had come easily then. He had wanted the remembrance of his father's punishment to be erased from his face. He wanted to forget, to be relieved of the memories and the torments that came when he saw his reflection. But as the waterbender's healing touch grew closer to his scar, he found he could not answer in the same way anymore. "No," he stated, while grabbing onto her wrist before she could touch his skin, "I don't want it to be healed."

Katara's arm was released and she let the water fall at her side and onto the grass. "Why? Don't you want the memories to be washed away? Don't you want to see your face as it should be? I thought you wanted to be healed of this torment. You speak to me of it almost daily," she questioned him, a look of uncertainty written across her expression.

The young man took a step closer to her and replied, "Yes, there is a part of me that wants this scar to be removed forever from my face, but there is an even greater part that wants it to remain."

"Why, my love? Why choose to remember these torments over having freedom from it?" she asked as she moved to place her hand upon his scarred face once again.

Zuko closed his eyes and breathed in the sweet smell of her hair as he continued. "Because…because if I erase the past from my mind, then maybe I'll forget."

"Forget what?"

He opened his eyes. "Forget how much you mean to me, forget how much we fought in order to win this war, forget the devastation that one opposing side can bring, forget all that I've been through, forget my father, forget this scar. If I forget it all, erase it from my memory, what will remain? Will I lose sight of the destruction and pain that this war brought and begin to see as my great-grandfather did? Will I let my people down? Will I fail?"

"Zuko…"

"No," he said as he stepped away from her. "This scar may mean that my face will remain deformed for the rest of my life, but it is a constant reminder of where I used to be and how far I've come. I want desperately to be rid of it, but I can't, Katara, I just can't. I fear…I fear greatly that I will become as my ancestors were, and it is something that I must prevent from happening. I'm sorry, Katara, but I can't let you heal me. You will have to love me for the broken man that I am."

Katara stood silently for what seemed like an eternity before taking those few lengthy steps towards this broken man. "Zuko…Zuko…" she whispered to him, placing both of her hands beside his face and gazing through his eyes and into the depths of his soul. "My love, how could you ever think I would love you any less? I can only love you more. And it is because you have the strength and the courage to let this reminder live that my love for you grows. My dear, Zuko, how could you ever compare yourself to the treacheries of your father or those who came before him? They are not the ancestors who live within you now. Have you forgotten so easily that Avatar Roku is also a part of you?"

Zuko's heartbeat slowed and his breathing evened as he listened to the woman who seemed to never say anything wrong. "You denied your father long ago and therefore denied his legacy within you. All that remains now is the legacy of your mother, of your Uncle Iroh, and of the Avatar. You need not struggle anymore, my love. Your battle is won. You have become the man you were born to be, and I know that you will never falter from it."

Katara's hands fell down to rest upon Zuko's chest as he lifted his own hand to caress the perfect skin of her neck. "My dear, how is it that you always know just what to say?"

"Because you forget, my love, that I know your heart better than any other, and I know just how to heal it."

Zuko wrapped his other arm around Katara's waist and drew her close in order to capture her lips with his once more. Even after two and a half years, he still could not resist the sweetness of her kiss. As soon as the gentle touch was broken, a genuine smile brightened up his handsome features and he couldn't help but pull her into his arms. How could one's heart be so full of love for one person? This was a mystery he had yet to figure out. Pulling back from the gentle hug, he wanted to practically scream his request in her face, but he tried to stay calm. "Katara, I know we are still young and there are so many more places to visit before our negotiations are complete, but I can't wait any longer. I love you dearly, and you are all I've ever wanted."

Katara laughed at Zuko's excited speech. "And I love you, my lord."

"Then…" Zuko knelt before her, holding one of her hands in his, "marry me! I know I am only nineteen and you a mere seventeen, but, my love, I cannot take this waiting much longer. I have loved you for so long, for an eternity it seems, and you alone are what I desire in this world. Please, Katara, marry me!"

Katara gasped when Zuko pulled out from under his robes a necklace that he had engraved with the symbols for water and fire. "When…when did you make this?"

The tips of Zuko's mouth rose mischievously. "Only yesterday. I had help from Master Paku. He seemed to be more skilled in the art of necklace making than I. Do you like it?" he asked as he rose to his feet and handed it to her.

Katara's fingers moved over the intricate carvings of the necklace and marveled at how artistically Zuko had combined the symbols of their nations. "Oh, Zuko, it's beautiful."

"So then," he voiced as he waited anxiously for her reply to his proposal, "what is your answer? Will you have me?"

Katara laughed. "Oh, Zuko, my love, how could I ever marry another? I love thee with all of my heart, and my heart will never stop loving you no matter how young or old we are." She looked once more at the necklace before handing it back to him. "Will you put it on for me?"

The waterbender had never seen the Fire Lord smile any bigger than he had at that moment. And after Zuko had tied the simple necklace around the smooth skin of her throat, she turned back to him once more and quietly answered his question, "Yes, Zuko, I will marry you."

Before the tears could even fall from her eyes, her fiancée had captured her mouth with his. There was so much joy within him that he felt he would never release her from his grip. He kissed her again and again and then twirled her around him as he kissed her even more. Together they laughed at the joy they had found in each other, at the love they had unexpectedly shared, and at the hope for a brighter future that lay ahead of them.

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_When this idea first came to me, I just couldn't get it out of my head. In fact, the very first line was the first thing that struck me, and I got to thinking - what if Zuko and Katara went back to the North Pole together and Katara offered to heal him? What would he say? I honestly believe that Zuko would not want to be healed for the very reasons stated in this story. Why would he want to be healed of something that would remind him of how things used to be? It would be a constant reminder that would never let him forget the war and the devastation that it brought, thus keeping him on the straight path and keeping his eyes open to the things of the world. In short, it would be good for him to keep his scar because of its reminder of the past and its push on him to be better than his ancestors._

_I wrote this cute Zutara story a long time ago, and it is still one of my favorites. So I thought I'd post it here so everyone could continue to enjoy it. Please read and review! Thanks!_

_AVidZktjo_


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